Amalgamator.



No. 790,445. PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

- T. J. A. MACDONALD.

AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 26, 19041 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

dfi litnnsses @nmutur $22 Mat;

PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

T. J. MACDONALD.

AMALGAMATOR.

APPLIOATION'IILED AUG. 26

3 SHEETS-SHEET '2.

No. 790,445. PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

' T. J. A. MACDONALD.

AMALGAMATOR.

APBLIOATION FILED AUG. 26, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

- ing for driving the amalgam-cylinders.

UNITED STATES Patented May 23, 1905.

THOMAS J. A. MACDONALD, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

AMALGAMATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part: of Letters Patent No. 790,445, dated. May 23, 1905. Application filed August 26,1904. Serial No. 222,267.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THoMAs J. A. MAoDoN- ALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amalgamators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to amalgamating-machines of the type employed for saving or reclaiming the fine or floured gold present in placer-mines or contained in the pulp from stamp-mills; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out particularly in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine of the character described wherein the arrangement is such as to thoroughly spread out the ore-pulp in a thin sheet, so as to insure contact of the fine particles of gold or silver with the amalgamating material as the pulp passes through the machine, provision being made forhandling large quantities of sand and gravel and at the same time insuring the extraction therefrom of all the fine particles of gold and silver as well as the coarser particles which said sand and gravel may contain.

The above object is' attained by the structure illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of amachine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view also in side elevation, showing the gear- Fig. 4' is an end elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 is a transverse section, as on line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a sectional View in detail on line '6 6 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is an elevation of one of the channeled amalgam-cylinders. Fig. 8 is a transverse section through said cylinder. Fig. 9 is an elevation of one of the spraypipe's employed to distribute water upon the plates or surfaces of the amalgam-table and to insure the requisite fluidity of the pulp passing thereover.

Referring to the-characters of reference, 1 designates a suitable frame, upon which is supported an inclined amalgam-table having the vertical sides 2 for confining the pulp thereon. Located at intervals in said table are wells 3, adapted to contain quicksilver or analogous amalgamating material. Located in each of said wells, near the upper side thereof, are the tapered copper cylinders 4,which stand approximately at right angles to each other and diagonally of the amalgam-table. Crossing the amalgam-table near the lower end of the cylinders 4 are the channeled copper cylinders 5 and 6. Immediately below the transverse cylinders 5 and 6 and at the lower side of each of said wells are the tapered copper cylinders 7 which, like the cylinders 4, stand approximately at right angles to each other and diagonally of the amalgam-table. All of the cylinders in each well are so positioned that the greater portion of their circumference is immersed inthe live quicksilver with which the well is filled and are caused to revolve therein,

the channeled cylinders and the diagonal cylinders at one side being driven through the medium of the beveled gears 8 upon the shafts thereof, which mesh with corresponding beveled gears 9 on the short vertical shafts 10, which are connected, through the medium of beveled gears, with the longitudinal shaft 11, carrying at one end the belt-pulley 12, the tapered cylinders on the opposite side of the machine being driven through the medium of the beveled gears 13 on their shafts, which mesh with the beveled gears 14 on the ends of the short vertical shafts 15, which are in turn connected by beveled gearing 15 with the longitudinal shaft 16, which is caused to rotate through the medium of the short vertical shaft 17 at the tail of the machine, connected by the beveled gears 18 with shaft 16 and by the beveled gears 19 with the shaft 31 of the heaters, revolving in a recess at the lower end of the machine for purposes hereinafter stated, the beater-shaft 31 being connected to shaft 11 by means of the beveled gears 36 and 37, the short vertical shaft 35, and the beveled gears 33 and 34.

To afford a surface over which the pulp may pass in its passage through the machine, the bed of the amalgam-table is formed of copper plates, there being at the head of the machine a plate 20, set between the side walls of the table upon which the pulp is deposited and down which the pulp flows to the initial cylinders 4, over which the pulp is carried by the rotation thereof, and is deposited upon the triangular plate 21, which is located between the cylinders 4L and the transverse channeled cylinders 5 and 6. From the plate 21 the pulp next passes onto the channeled cylinders 5 and 6, the rotation of which carries the'pulp over and deposits it upon the lower triangular plate 22, from whence the flow of water carries the pulp onto the lower tapered cylinders 7 from which it passes onto the succeeding plate 23, and thence onto the next set of cylinders 4, the operation continuing to the end of the machine. The surface of each of the copper plates interposed between the cylinders and which form the bed of the amalgam-table is silver-coated or coated with amalgam, while all of the cylinders revolve in the well of live quicksilver. The plates are so positioned as to present the sand and gravel passing thereover to the upper arcs of the revolving cylinders, so that said cylinders offer little or no impediment to the flow of the pulp, because of their rotation in the direction of the flow.

In order to facilitate the passage of the sand and gravel over the bed of the amalgam-table and the cylinders inserted therein, there is located at the head of the table a trough 24, into which water is discharged from the end. of the pipe 25. The water passing into the trough from said pipe overflows along the edge thereof onto the plate 20 and accelerates the passage of the pulp over the cylinders and plates. To prevent a lodgment or clogging of the pulp, there are employed after the first and second sets of cylinders perforated waterpipes 26, connected with the pipe 25 and extending transversely over the plates 23, from which water is sprayed onto said plates, which further assists in the free passage of the pulp through the machine.

It will now be understood that as the pulp passes through the machine it must travel over the amalgam-coated plates and over the rotary cylinders which are turning in the amalgamating material with which the wells are filled. The pulp as it is fed to the machine is spread out thinly upon the plate 20, and its particles are further separated in passing over the diagonal cylinders 4:, whose position diagonal to the line of travel presents a greater area of active surface than though said cylinders were at right angles to the line of travel. The enlarged lower ends of the tapered cylinders as they revolve tend to prevent a too rapid longitudinal movement of the pulp across them and at the same time rolling the particles of the pulp over thereon in checking said longitudinal movement, whereby the particles of ore are thoroughly separated before the pulp is deposited upon the first triangular plate 21. To guard against a possible congestion of the pulp when presented to this plate by the diagonal cylinders, the transverse cylinders 5 and 6 are provided with spiral channels 27, traversing their peripheries in both directions, into which the pulp is carried and which serve to again thoroughly distribute the pulp and further separate its particles, whereby it is carried to the succeeding triangular plate 22 in a thin even sheet. The channels in the cylinders 5 and 6 also serve to increase the area of their amalgamating-surfaces, affording a greater opportunity for contact of the fine particles of gold and silver with the amalgamating material. Each succeeding set of cylinders repeats the operation just described, so that an opportunity is afforded every particle of line-flonred gold or other metal to come into contact with the amalgam which collects and coheres said particles until they have sufiicient density to precipitate in some one of the wells of the machine, whereby the fine-fioured gold, which is ordinarily lost, may be readily saved.

In order to prevent the possible congestion of the pulp between the cylinders 5 and 6, the second cylinder 6 is driven at a higher rate of speed than is cylinder 5 by providing upon shaft 11 a larger gear 28, as shown in Fig. 3, which engages with the gear-wheel 29 on the vertical shaft 10, which rotates said cylinder 6.

To provide means for catching the overflow of quicksilver, there is employed at the tail of the machine a transverse recess 30, crossed by a shaft 31, having heaters 32 thereon which serve to agitate the tailings and separate the quicksilver therefrom, said quicksilver remaining in said recess, while the pulp from which the gold and silver has been extracted passes from the tail of the machine.

It will be noted that the ends of the oblique cylinders extend beyond the side walls of the amalgam-table, whereby the clogging of the pulp between the ends of the cylinder and the sides of the table is obviated.

At the upper ends of each initial pair of diagonal cylinders is located a shield 38, which deflects the pulp and prevents it from passing into the well before encountering the surface of the cylinders.

The level of the quicksilver in the wells is indicated by dotted line 39 in Figs. 5 and 6.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

2. An amalgamator, comprising an inclined amalgam-table, rotary amalgam-cylinders set in said table to project slightly above the plane thereof and obliquely to the flow of pulp, means for rotating said cylinders, and a well of amalgam below the level of the table in which said cylinders revolve. 3. An amalgamator comprising an inclined amalgam-table, a well sunk below the surface of the table and adapted to contain amalgamating material, cylinders in pairs rotating in said wells, set substantially at right angles to each other and obliquely to the flow of pulp, plates interposed between said pairs of cylinders, and means for rotating said cylinders. 4. An amalgamator comprising an inclined amalgamating-table, a series of wells below the surface of said table adapted to contain amalgamating material, two pairs of cylinders journaled in said wells at right angles to each other and obliquely to the flow of pulp, and two transverse cylinders also revolving in said wells interposed between the pairs of obliqueamalgamating-table over which the ore-pulp is adapted to flow, a well .in said table adapted to contain amalgamating material, a pair of rotary cylinders journaled in said well, said cylinders standing at right angles to each other and obliquely to the flow of pulp, a portion of the outer ends of said cylinders projecting beyond the side walls of the table.

6. Amalgamating-machines, comprising an inclined amalgam-table having a plurality of wells therein adapted to contain amalgamating material, two pairs of diagonally-arranged cylinders rotatably mounted in each well, and

a pair of transverse cylinders for each well interposed between said diagonal cylinders, means for discharging water onto the table at intervals, and means for rotating said cylinders.

-7. An amalgamator comprising an inclined amalgamating-table, a well in said table adapted to contain amalgamating material, a pair of tapered cylinders rotatably seated in said well obliquely to the flow of pulp, a pair of transverse cylinders in said well below said diagonal cylinders, said transverse cylinders having channeled peripheries, and means for rotating said cylinders.

In testimony whereof I sign this specifica- -tion in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS J. A. MACDONALD.

Witnesses;

E. S. WHEELER, I. G. HOW'LETT. 

